1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a wasteless type lamination system for thermocompression bonding of a transparent film on a surface of a card such as an ID card.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional lamination system, a transparent film cut into a predetermined size and mounted on a base sheet (a carrier) is torn from the base sheet and is laminated on a surface of a card by thermocompression bonding. Such lamination system is undesirable in view of the operation cost and the protection of environment, since the base sheet used is thrown away as waste material.
To solve such problem, a wasteless type lamination system has been developed and is being practically used.
In this lamination system, a leading edge of a continuous transparent laminate film is drawn out from a supply roll; then, transferred along a film transfer path; then, cut in a predetermined length by a cutter; and then, further transferred along the film transfer path until the laminate film reaches a point of convergence where it meets a printed ID card.
On the other hand, the printed ID card is transferred to the point of convergence along a card transfer path.
At the point of convergence, the cut laminate film is laid on the printed ID card, and then, the cut laminate film and the printed ID card are further transferred to a thermocompression bonding place where the cut laminate film is laminated on the surface of the ID card by thermocompression bonding using a heat roller provided there.
Such wasteless type lamination system is advantageous in view of the operation cost and the protection of environment, since the laminate film is used after being cut in a necessary length and the base sheet is not used.
However, in the wasteless type lamination system of the prior art as explained above, it sometimes happens that a looseness is formed by some cause in the continuous transparent laminate film between the cutter and a transfer roller for transferring the laminate film toward the cutter. If such looseness is formed, the laminate film of the length corresponding to the looseness may pass through between the blades of the cutter after the cutter is operated. Thus, if the cutter is operated again for initialization, for example, the laminate film that has passed through between the blades of the cutter is cut off by the cutter. Thus, a small piece of the laminate film that often gets in between the card and the laminate film is produced. If the lamination is made with the small piece of the laminate film between the card and the laminate film, there are problems that the laminate film is wasted and the quality of the lamination is deteriorated.